My husband Ken claims to dislike cats. In fact, he says it's a war between him and the cats. Now before you get alarmed, let me tell you that this is a bald-face lie. On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, Ken can often be found napping on the sofa with a cat or two on his lap. He plays with them, he buys them toys, he gives them treats. He just seems to think that real men are dog people, not cat people. And so we also have a big fuzzy dog for Ken.

However, there was one little incident that made me wonder if maybe there is some truth about the war between Ken and Maggie Mayhem.

It was early one morning and we were getting ready for work. Ken had gone downstairs to let Colter (the big fuzzy dog) out into the backyard. Ken went out also to get the water and food dishes, closing the patio door behind himself. Maggie, always anxious to go outside, was jumping at the door. I think she was trying to open it up herself so she could escape. But instead of opening the door, she succeeded only in pulling down the lever that locks the door.

So here is Ken, out in the backyard without his keys, knocking on the door and calling for me to let him in. I was upstairs running the hair dryer oblivious to it all.

Next thing I know, the doorbell is ringing. Who'd be ringing the doorbell at 5:30 in the morning and why wasn't Ken answering it? I go downstairs, open the door, and there stands a really angry Ken. Maggie had locked him out, just like the cat in the Flintstones used to lock Fred out. Somehow I managed to keep a straight face as I let Ken back in the house.

Later Ken saw the humor of it all, but he still swears it's a war.

(Please note that you will see a number of photos of our cats and kittens that I've taken outside in a natural setting. The LostWoods cats do NOT go outside unsupervised! When we do go outside for pictures and occasional adventures, there is always one person and usually two watching them closely. We do have an outside, fully enclosed run to which the older cats are allowed access, but even then we check on them often.)

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